Warm weather invading area

Unseasonably warm weather will settle over northern Michigan today and linger though most of the weekend, a likely indication of another very mild winter.

By MARK SPENCLEYmark@cheboygantribune.com

Unseasonably warm weather will settle over northern Michigan today and linger though most of the weekend, a likely indication of another very mild winter.“Its going to warm up quite a bit,” said Tim Locker, meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Gaylord. “We’re looking at 45 on Friday and 48 on Saturday for Cheboygan.”Rain will accompany these warm temperatures, along with some wind. This is the perfect recipe to eliminate the little snow cover that has been lingering over most northern Michigan areas since a pre-Christmas storm dropped several inches. “We’ve been seeing a global shift,” explained Locker. “All the cold winters are over Europe and that’s uncommon for them. The last time this happened was in the 1950s. We’re looking at another mild winter this year and for the next couple years.”The reasons for this global shift in winter activity are many and complicated. According to Locker, in a basic sense, the ways storm systems and pressure systems set up around the globe have shifted, keeping cold air north of Michigan.If this winter follows suit with the last, which meteorologists anticipate, spring will arrive early again. In 2012, early March greeted northern Michigan residents with several days in the 70s. That warm trend continued through the spring and into summer, which ranked as one of Michigan’s warmest on record.Nationwide, summer 2012 was the third hottest on record, according to the National Climatic Data Center, which has been collecting climate data since 1895.Though few complain about warm summers, these warm winters have a polarizing affect on northern Michigan residents. “Yeah, people have the opinions on it for sure,” Locker joked. “I’m fine with the warm weather, but we have other people in here on suicide watch. Its just how you feel about the snow I guess.”